History’s the catch at Fish Rock

Michael McCarthy, For The Province09.13.2013

Meals of barbecued salmon finish with a special treat of local soapberries harvested by hand, a delicious but acquired taste.
Meals of barbecued salmon finish with a special treat of local soapberries harvested by hand — a delicious but acquired taste that Xwisten tour participants can partake to complete their visit.Michael McCarthy

Guide Sandra Terry shows a strip of dried salmon that can be purchased after a barbequed meal at Fish Rock.
Guide Sandra Terry shows a strip of dried salmon that can be purchased after a barbecued meal comprising salmon, rice, salad and bannock bread at Fish Rock.Michael McCarthy

A St’át’imc man waits for salmon to swim by so he can catch one with his dip net.Michael McCarthy

A giant mural painted on a rock wall by the Fraser River at Fish Rock indicates this is St’át’imc territory.
A giant mural painted on a rock wall by the Fraser River at Fish Rock indicates thisis St’át’imc territory. Salmon are an important part of the St’át’imc food supply.

The man stands balanced precariously on a rock as the waters of the mighty Fraser River rush by. Holding his 3.5 metre pole, he watches attentively. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrists, he nets a silver shadow. So continues the ancient tradition of salmon fishing for the St’át’imc people at Bridge River dating back thousands of years. It’s also the beginning of a new tourism opportunity called Xwísten Experience Tours.

In a world overrun by manufactured tourist attractions, the word “authenticity” is starting to gain attention. Many tourists want their travel experiences mixed with some history or meaning. At Fish Rock, just north of Lillooet, travellers interested in the history of British Columbia’s native people can learn a great deal.

Xwísten (HOY-sten) Experience Tours highlights two historically significant sites to the Bridge River people. The first is the Fish Rock fishing grounds used by the St’at’imc (STAT-lee-um) to harvest salmon; the second is an archeological village site containing the remains of 80 pit houses (s7ístken) inhabited as recently as 200 years ago. Both sites teach valuable lessons about the past and the future.

A tour of Fish Rock allows visitors to observe the St’át’imc’s rich culture and history; it also shows how the precipitous decline in the number of salmon in the Fraser River has been detrimental to native people while serving as a warning about the importance of sustainability.

“We have to respect the fish and Mother Earth and the mighty Fraser River,” guide Sandra Terry explains. “If you don’t respect this, you won’t get any fish next year. At the beginning of the season, we throw back the first fish we catch and say a little prayer in honour of the finned ones and the river.”

High above the river from a viewing platform, visitors can watch the 11 bands of the Bridge River people working to harvest and dry their annual catch. The aroma of the fish is strong, so with luck you may catch sight of visiting bears come to dine on leftovers.

Terry also takes visitors to a pit house in the St’at’imc archeological village site.

The University of Montana has been studying the site since 2003 and has provided a lot of information on its history. The aboriginal peoples of this region used pit houses primarily as a warm haven during the cold winter months. Pit houses are North America’s oldest known permanent housing, warm in winter and cool in summer, each housing dozens of people.

“The houses were built by digging a circular crater in the ground several feet deep,” Terry says, “then a log structure was put over top with a wooden roof sealed with various materials from the forest. The entire structure was then buried with only an access door at the top and on the side. The door on the top was used by men and the door on the side for women, children and elders to enter.”

Also known as quigllies (from keekwulee, the Chinook jargon word for “beneath”) the pit houses appear today as circular depressions in the ground. Quigglies were typically located where solar exposure, water supply and access to fish, game and gatherable foodstuffs were favourable. Diggings at Keatley Creek, north of Fish Rock, have shown its origins to be as old as 4,800 B.C. No one lives in them today, but quigglies are important landmarks in the broader context of First Nations land claims, proof of ownership and native sovereignty.

Europe’s invasion began with the Gold Rush in 1858 and the building of the Douglas Road to transport miners to the Fraser Canyon. With the newcomers came numerous diseases to which the St’át’imc had no immunity.

The smallpox epidemic of 1862 decimated the St’át’imc population, killing off entire villages and families. While Lillooet became a boom town, the St’at’imc nearly disappeared.

Then the Bralorne Gold Mine opened in 1887 and cyanide used to extract gold ore poisoned the fishing grounds of the St’át’imc. In 1960, the Bridge River was dammed and its water diverted to Seton Lake, both events causing incalculable damage to salmon habitat. Much of Vancouver’s electricity comes from this dam, and many subsequent clear-cuts ruined the forests and damaged wildlife. Yet financial compensation was not paid to the St’át’imc. The miners and forest companies move on, but the St’át’imc people still remain.

“You don’t want to over-harvest, or you won’t have anything for the future,” Terry says at the end of the tour. “It’s the same for berry picking, deer or moose meat, or anything. If you don’t respect the land, you will have nothing for the future.”

In July and August, all the St’át’imc bands still gather to catch migrating salmon at Fish Rock, sharing the fishing grounds and wind-drying their catch for winter use.

With little compensation for the environmental degradation of their traditional territory, and few available jobs, salmon remain an important part of the St’át’imc food supply.

To complete the Xwisten tour, visitors can partake in a barbecued salmon dinner with rice, salad and bannock bread. To top off the feast, a traditional dessert of whipped soapberries (sxúsum) is served that’s just as tasty as the salmon.

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